


and we can be pirates

by jenniferwrites



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV), Julie and the Phantoms
Genre: Best Friends, Childhood Friends, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, Unrequited Love, Yearning, based off of seven by taylor swift, basically seven is reggie's song and i am lowkey projecting anyways!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:48:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26438950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jenniferwrites/pseuds/jenniferwrites
Summary: "If there was anything Reggie loved, it was pirates. And he had several reasons for it."loosely based off of Taylor Swift's song, "seven."
Relationships: Reggie/Luke, Reggie/Luke (Julie and the Phantoms)
Comments: 21
Kudos: 339





	and we can be pirates

**and we can be pirates**

_A Reggie & Luke One-Shot _

**____________________**

If there was anything Reggie loved, it was pirates. And he had several reasons for it. It was quite the exhaustive list, but his top four reasons were that:

  1. Pirates got to see the world. Beyond California. Beyond his small, rundown home. Beyond just this “just wait until you see what the REAL world is like, Reggie” nonsense his father spewed day in, day out. He could visit Treasure Island or Neverland. He could run away. It was a nice thought.
  2. Pirates knew how to find treasure. If he could find treasure filled with gold, maybe his parents would stop shouting at each other over the lights shutting off (Reggie didn’t mind. He liked getting to turn on a candle—it reminded him of being on a pirate ship and looking at maps to faraway places) or something like that.
  3. Pirates had cool hats. No further explanation needed.
  4. Pirates weren’t afraid of anything. Reggie needed a pirate’s courage sometimes.



As Reggie’s parents indulged themselves in yet another argument, Reggie sniffled, walked into his closet, and shut the door. The ten-year-old sat down and hugged his knees as tears streamed down his face. He hated when his parents fought. Reggie never knew how to make the situation better.

Reggie would tell jokes to his parents to try and make them laugh, but he was pretty sure his parents weren’t born with a funny bone. They could never laugh or smile, so that explained why his attempts at humor never worked.

Reggie would try and put on music performances for his performances, but he was also pretty sure his parents didn’t have the foot tapping ability. They never seemed to hear the music he sang and tap their feet along to the beat. They just ignored him.

Nothing seemed to work, and there were only so many ideas Reggie could come up with. All he could do was cry and wish for a pirate to come and take him away.

Reggie didn’t want to taste salty tears anymore. Instead he wanted to smell the salty air as his eyes viewed a vast, blue ocean and heard waves crashing against a large, wooden ship sailing him on to a new adventure.

He just needed a pirate to take him away.

Reggie’s closet door opened.

It wasn’t a pirate, but he could take him away and make his world feel like magic.

Luke—with his moppy hair, hazel eyes, and infectious grin…he could take Reggie anywhere he wanted, and it was paradise.

Luke kneeled in front of a teary Reggie.

“You know, I think your house might be haunted.” Luke whispered, standing up and pulling off Reggie’s bedsheets and tossing the bed sheets over their heads to make a quick fort. Luke turned on the small flashlight that was in his pocket. Luke never needed a flashlight to light up a room, though. He did that all on his own.

Reggie sniffled in response.

“Your mom and dad are always mad, so maybe there’s some mean ghosts. We can fight them another day so it’s better around here.” Luke mused as he looked at Reggie, concern in his eyes. “Wanna read some _Treasure Island_? We could read it at the beach so it feels more real.”

 _Treasure Island_ was Reggie’s favorite book. He’d read it five times already. He liked it more when Luke read it to him—even if Luke didn’t do great pirate impressions or pronounce the bigger words right.

“Okay.” Reggie mumbled with a faint nod.

Luke quickly grabbed Reggie’s hand and took him away to sandy beaches and salty waters where deadly, fighting pirates were all the rage and Reggie smiled so hard that his mouth hurt.

When Reggie began to see the sun set to a warm, orange color, Reggie turned to Luke who was reading the tattered paperback. “What time should we head back to shore, captain?” Reggie asked with a smile.

It was a code word for going back home. Luke to his loving one and Reggie to his ghost-infested one.

Luke looked up from the book, looked towards the setting sun, and then back to Reggie.

“At sunset’s curve.”

Reggie couldn’t help but beam. Luke and his own special description of when the sun set. “Okay.” he nodded.

Luke almost went back to reading, but, instead, he closed the book. “Why don’t you come live with me?”

Reggie tilted his head. “What?”

“We can play pirates all day, read more _Treasure Island,_ and you don’t have to be so sad all the time because you have ghosts in your house.” Luke reasoned.

Reggie frowned. “I can’t leave today.”

Luke frowned too. “Oh. Okay.” Luke slouched a little in defeat. “Maybe…maybe one day?” Luke tilted his head. “Maybe one day you can leave with me? We’ll kick ghost butts and then get a boat with Alex.”

“And look for treasure?” Reggie asked, a hopeful gleam in his eye.

Luke nodded. “And look for treasure.”

**____________________**

“Psst! Reggie!” Seventeen-year-old Luke pressed Reggie’s tattered copy of _Treasure Island_ against the outside glass of Reggie’s bedroom window.

Reggie looked up, pulling off his headphones where he listened to Smashing Pumpkins’ _Siamese Dream_ album on his Walkman. It became easier to drown out his parents’ fighting once he got his hands on a Walkman and endless cassette tapes handed down by Luke and Alex.

Luke grinned and pointed to the book. “We can be pirates now! You know, look for treasure and shit!”

Reggie tilted his head. “Are you high?”

Luke motioned for Reggie to lift up his window, so Reggie did. Luke, with his guitar case and a backpack strapped to his back, climbed through Reggie’s window.

“My parents don’t understand our band or me wanting to pursue music.” Luke shook his head with a scoff before looking at Reggie. “I think it’s time we look for treasure like we always said we would when we were kids.”

“You mean…run away?” Reggie felt his heart race.

“Run away and be _pirates_.” Luke grinned that infectious grin of his that Reggie couldn’t help but mimic. “You, me, and Alex. No one can bring us down so long as we got each other, right?” Luke handed Reggie his old book. “Like _Treasure Island_ says…uh…adventure!” Luke exclaimed with a cheeky grin.

Reggie raised an eyebrow as he took the book. “Is that a quote from it?”

Luke shrugged. “Pretty sure the book says it somewhere in there, though.”

Reggie snorted and nodded. “Yeah, probably.” Reggie paused, looking around his bedroom. 

It didn’t have much. 

Reggie never allowed himself to decorate his room. 

They didn’t have the money for it, and Reggie never wanted to put sentimental value in a room he spent his childhood crying in because of his parents endless fighting and neglect. Reggie looked down at the copy of _Treasure Island_. He read this book as an escape, and now he had his hands on a map to freedom with Luke written all over it. 

“What time should we head to shore, captain?” Reggie asked, looking up at Luke with a soft smile.

Luke beamed and pulled Reggie in for a hug. “At sunset’s curve.” He whispered in Reggie’s ear. Reggie melted into the hug and Luke held onto him tightly. “I told you I’d get you to come live with me.”

“You’re the only pirate I’d run away with.”

“Not even Long John Silver?”

Reggie shook his head. “You got a better map.”

Luke pulled away from their hug and cupped Reggie’s face, Reggie’s eyes widening slightly at the tender touch. “It’s you and me always, Reg, okay? We’re always going to be pirates.”

“Promise?” Reggie asked. “Because pirates are known for surprise sneak attacks. Don’t go changing on me now.”

Luke nodded. “I promise.” Luke intertwined his fingers with Reggie’s.

What Luke didn’t know, though, was that one day they’d stop being pirates and become ghosts.

And one day, Luke would meet a girl that he would look at and feel as if he was coming back to life. There would be a glow around him—a light not even Reggie could produce for him. All Reggie could do is be just another cold, spine-chilling ghost that gave goosebumps to someone’s skin. Not warmth. Not light. Not flashlights under bedsheets in small closets. He could never make Luke feel alive as much as he wanted to.

Reggie wasn’t a pirate. He had no map to a faraway land or elusive treasure to give.

All Reggie had was love for a pirate boy with moppy hair he’d sail everywhere in the world for.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed!!!  
> here are some of my socials if you wanna be indulged by more julie and the phantoms ramblings and/or content! 
> 
> twitter: @docandbeans  
> tumblr: loovelikee-fools 
> 
> take care!  
> -jen (or jj)


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